N.Barnes, Youngstown Artist & Button Maker

Revamp 59

What should I do with this blog?

It started as a biz blog for making pinback and other buttons. That kind of fizzled out. I still make custom buttons, but do not actively seek orders or anything.

I created a bunch of stock designs with the intent of selling them as a low ticket item when setting up at local venues with my art, but I’m not up to running the arts and craft show circuits. My health won’t even let me play itinerant retailer on street corners. I sold a few online posting on Etsy and other marketplace websites, but not enough to make it worth the fees.

As for this blog, it has sat idle for long periods of time between attempts to do something with it. My most recent posts here documented my first pours back when I first began to learn how to create those kind of paintings.

Thing is, I’m turning 59 in a few days. That’s a milestone. Or almost a milestone, call it the eve of a milestone as 60 is the big rock. Both of my grandmothers died in their 60’s. They both had health issues and vices similar to my own, so I relate more to their timelines than my own mother’s as she’s 78 and has always monitored her diet, hasn’t had a drop of alcohol or anything for as long I can recall. She might outlive us all.

Coming up on 59 makes me want to be more organized and focused. I’m asking myself questions. Like, how do I want to live the rest of my life?

This one day sliding into the next is for the birds. I need to tidy up everything, become organized, focused, purpose driven.

I’m making changes in the house… this office/studio (former master bedroom) will become just a studio soon. The office is moving into the waste of space that most people call a living room. To me, it’s wasted space because that’s a 4th of my house that is generally used as a glorified hallway to the front door. I don’t sit in there. My guests don’t even want to sit in there; they always head straight for the kitchen table. The only thing I’m waiting on now is for the girl who wants the overstuffed recliner chair to find someone with a truck. That thing is so huge that I can’t move much of anything in there until it’s gone.

As for blogs, I recently launched mice4mars just for my art. Yeah, I’m thinking YBWorks started as a button blog so it should be a button blog. Or, it can end as a button blog. Odds are, it will sit idle for awhile as I’m not really into making buttons right now. I’m not ready to sell the machines. Who knows? I might want get back into it, after I get everything tidied up.

Thanks for following (if you have) and enjoy your summer… figured good to let you know what’s going on.